Economics Daily Digest: The GOP's own goal

By Tim Price, originally published on Next New Deal

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Conservatives Hindered by Ownership-Society Ideal (Bloomberg)

Roosevelt Institute Fellow Mike Konczal argues that the GOP is still guided by its vision of an "ownership society" in which public risks are shifted onto private individuals. But having taken this model for a test drive, Americans can tell they're being sold a lemon.

Feminism's unfinished business (NY Daily News)

NND Editor Bryce Covert writes that Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique sparked a cultural transformation, but even with women making up half the workforce, our policies still assume they're literally cooking dinner rather than figuratively putting it on the table.

The Titanic Wealth Gap Between Blacks and Whites (Prospect)

Jamelle Bouie notes that a recent study shows the wealth gap between white and black families has tripled in the last 25 years and writes that the government must work to promote upward mobility, even if the Supreme Court rules that racism is officially over.

Senate, in a More Affable Mode, Backs Treasury Nominee (NYT)

Perhaps sensing it would be a stretch to tie him to Benghazi, the Senate confirmed Jack Lew as treasury secretary by a vote of 71 to 26, allowing Republicans to take the next step in the grieving process of admitting they didn't win the last presidential election.

Sequestration stupidity (WaPo)

Harold Meyerson notes that when the economy collapsed in the 1930s, FDR showed the world that public investment was the way out of the hole. But Europe's leaders and their GOP sympathizers must have skipped that history class, because they just keep digging.

6 Ways the Sequester Will Mess Up the Environment (MoJo)

Zaineb Mohammed looks at the environmental impact of looming budget cuts, from the inconvenient (delayed opening of national parks) to the truly unappetizing (cutbacks to food safety inspections). Maybe if we're lucky the job creators will start hiring food tasters.

Will the Sequester Start Another Recession? (TNR)

Perry Stein surveys a range of leading economists on the potential results of sequestration, and the general consensus is that it's a really dumb policy that will act as a drag on much needed growth. So it's pretty much meeting design specifications, then.

Economists think minimum wage is worth it (WaPo)

Ezra Klein highlights yet another survey of top economists that shows they don't really agree about the downsides of raising the minimum wage, but they do think the benefits outweigh the costs, whatever those may be. Thanks for clearing that up for us, guys.

Tim Price is Deputy Editor of Next New Deal. Follow him on Twitter @txprice.